Xavi at a loss for words after Barca's clasico thrashing

Xavi Hernandez admitted it would be hard to sleep after Real Madrid crushed Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

Los Blancos reached the final 4-1 on aggregate after Vinicius Junior opened the scoring and Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in the second half of the second leg.

Xavi had led Barca to victory over their arch rivals in the last three clasicos, but Madrid raised their game to a new level to set up a final against Osasuna on May 6.

"We're hurt, yes. It will be hard to sleep, more so as the big Barca fan that I am," Xavi said.

"I told the players (this could happen), we had chances but went in at 1-0. It's a shame because we competed well in the first half and that was our moment.

"In the second Madrid were better, sincerely, they were better physically, they pressed us high. There are no excuses."

Despite the defeat, Barcelona should still be able to win the Spanish title as they hold a 12 point advantage on Real Madrid in second. The Catalans also beat their rivals in the Spanish Super Cup final in January.

"If we win La Liga and the Super Cup it's a good season," added Xavi. "There are 11 finals left, and we have to keep competing."

Barca looked set for the final on Wednesday having edged a 1-0 win in the first leg of the semi-final in Madrid last month.

But after dominating the early stages of the second leg, they fell apart.

Vinicius Jr gave Real the lead in first-half stoppage time following a lightning counter-attack and the semi-final was turned on its head when Benzema struck a shot into the corner five minutes into the second half from a Luka Modric pass.

Eight minutes later Vinicius was fouled in the area and Benzema thumped his penalty past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

With jeers